Jeb Bush will bring the party, or at least the money, to Kennebunkport

Happy Monday from Augusta, where the budget bill approved by a majority of the Appropriations Committee is expected to be drafted and ready for floor votes as early as today.

But, as you know, the two-year spending plan — worth more than $6.6 billion — doesn’t have the support needed to pass in the Legislature. Negotiations on a fix faltered last week, but top party officials from the House and Senate worked furiously over the weekend to craft an amendment that can win the two-thirds of lawmakers necessary to avoid a government shutdown.

Wednesday is the last scheduled day of legislative activity for the year, but it’s more than likely the session will be extended to make time to finish the budget.

While the current budget doesn’t expire until the end of the month, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have said a plan must be approved and sent to Gov. Paul LePage no later than this Thursday. That’s because many expect LePage to wait the full 10 days (excluding Sunday) allotted by law before his near-certain veto.

Jeb Bush to entertain big donors at family compound in Kennebunkport

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is expected to announce his candidacy for the Republican president nomination today in Miami, but the campaign will soon be in Maine, albeit not for a public appearance.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Bush will soon entertain big donors here in the Pine Tree State.

WSJ reporter Rebecca Ballhaus says Bush will hold a fundraiser on June 19 in Washington, D.C. She writes that co-chairs of the event must raise $27,000 for Bush’s campaign, for which they’ll receive “a photo, entry to a host reception and luncheon and an invitation to a retreat in Kennebunkport, Maine, in early July.”

While Ballhaus doesn’t say as much, a reasonable person might suspect the “retreat” will take place at the Bush family compound on Walker Point, where Jeb Bush is currently building a new home. The estate has been in the Bush family for generations. — Mario Moretto.

“Most would agree that [LePage’s] rationale for vetoing all Democratic bills is an abuse of this authority,” said Sen. Cathy Breen, D-Falmouth, in a radio address last week. “Each time the House and Senate vote to override the governor’s vetoes, we are refusing to let political games get in the way of good governance.”

The 12 new vetoes will be shepherded through the House and Senate for override votes this week. — Mario Moretto, BDN.

Just for fun: Maine of Thrones

“Game of Thrones” viewers are probably still cursing the names Benioff and Weiss after last night’s season 5 finale, but there have been a few Maine/Game of Thrones overlaps lately that I wanted to point out.

Fans of the show probably saw more Night’s King memes in the past two weeks than there are blades of grass in the Dothraki Sea, but this one — produced by a Maine journalist who shall remain nameless — earns special mention for conjuring the terrifying image of white walkers stalking the State House:

Then there’s a survey, made by the BDN’s Dan MacLeod, in which he asks Mainers to imagine their state as Westeros. Which Maine coastal town is Lannisport? Which city is Highgarden?

For what it’s worth, I say Portland is obviously Dorne. Orono is Old Town (which sounds weird, I know), Augusta is King’s Landing, Bangor is Moat Cailin, Presque Isle is Winterfell, Fort Kent is Castle Black and …

About Mario Moretto

Mario Moretto has been a Maine journalist, in print and online publications, since 2009. He joined the Bangor Daily News in 2012, first as a general assignment reporter in his native Hancock County and, now, in the State House. Mario left the BDN in 2015.
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